66sick is a German bicycle component company that makes ergonomic All-Mountain specific grips and saddles. The company is the brain child of Sasha Meyenborg, whose racing pedigree includes BMX German Championship titles and the 1996 overall BMX World Cup, along with racing in dual slalom, Dual Eliminator and 4cross. They utilize technology from SQlab but apply their own wildness and flavor to their own product lineup of saddles, grips and accessories. The result is the aggressive oriented Espacio Libre, and the lighter race oriented El Flaco saddles. Radsport USA, the North American home of the premium German brands of Syntace, Liteville, SQlab and Haberland, recently added 66Sick to their lineup.

The 66Sick Espacio Libre saddle comes in two widths (seat bone width specific), with good support surface contact for maximum pedaling performance and riding position, and it’s thickly padded for aggressive and rough usage on the trail. 66Sick uses SQLabs stepped padding design, which pushes the riders weight to the sit bones rather than sensitive soft tissue.

The saddles feature a Carbon fiber reinforced shell, and Kevlar edges, a central ergonomic trough, a long padded nose and chromoly rails. It comes in 129mm and 144mm seat widths, orange, green and black/gray colors, and retails for $139.

Measured weight – 276 grams

Bottom Line

I love the graphics of the saddle, and it definitely sets it apart from most anything on the market, though some might find it garish. I found the seat comfortable and easy to move around on, and the nose had lots of padding for those climbs and maneuvers on steeper terrain. I got the widest 144mm version, since my SQLab size comes in at 14, which is pretty close to a match. It felt nice when my sit bones got up on the rear of the saddle, and it was well padded, offering comfort while pedaling or bashing down through rough terrain. I found the front portion of the saddle to have an ideal length and width and subtle roundness, which made longer seated sessions more tolerable and less injurious. I did a massive ejector after my handlebars hit a tree, and the bike and I tumbled quite a distance, and the rear of the saddle got smashed pretty hard, and there wasn’t any damage outside of some dirt. The Kevlar edges really helped with the durability, and along with the more stout chromoly rails, this should be a long-lived saddle. The well-padded 66Sick Espacio Libre is comfortable and tough, and all the SQLab technologies really make this a winner in the All-Mountain saddle category.

Pros

Comfortable

Durable and tough

Stepped design

Nose is nicely padded

Two widths

Cons

Moderately heavy

Colors and patterns are a bit wild

MSRP: $139Overall Rating: 4.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

Photo Thumbnails (click to enlarge)

Brian likes to push the limits in all the sports he obsesses in, whether it's mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, skiing, or sport climbing. He takes those same strengths and a good dose of insanity to his reviewing and writing on mountain biking products, creating technical, in-depth articles. Whenever he's not on the bike, he might be found watching MotoGP racing, otherwise look for him out on the trail.

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